Awards, Projects and more...

I can't believe it! Our "Daily Blog" has been nominated as one of only eight classroom blogs in the country for the prestigious Edublog awards! In the field of education, this is very big. This remindsme that we have to remain consistent with our posts (oops!) but the kids love it and I'm glad this reinforces their hard work. Please go to this site to vote for our class to win!

Second, our California History projects (missions and such) are due on Monday. Remember that EVERY student needs to give a brief oralpresentation. I suggest that they practice and become familiar with 5 simple facts about their topic, nothing too intense.

Lastly, if you have read this far (and hopefully voted for a blog to win) please send a Post-it or other note with your signature and the word "VOTE" on it to school with your child (along with the Weekly Review). Your child will receive a free gift! The purpose of this is simply to give incentive for parents (and kids) to read this newsletter.

Veteran's Day weekly update

A few short notes:
We began our new math curriculum this week. We were using Houghton Mifflin and now we are using Saxon Math. I am piloting these math programs to see which one we will use next year. Thanks to the students for being flexible! One difference you will notice is that students will use paper folded into 15 sections to complete their 1-30 homework problems. They will usually receive 30 problems a night and they must show any work. Don't worry, most of these problems are pretty easy ;)

There is a holiday "party" after school on December 3 for all 4th and 5th graders. Please email Samantha Holt of Armed Services YMCA at sholt@camppendletonasymca.org for more info.

Remember, there is a 4 day weekend, so keep your kiddies until Wednesday!

Multiplication

As we progress through our conference week, I thank all parents for being so punctual. It's tough fitting in 32 conferences and it makes it easier when everyone is on time. I also thank parents for their patience if they have to wait outside for a minute or so while I wrap things up with a previous conference.

Some common themes I see with fourth grade students are math facts and reading fluency. Multiplication facts are the basis for many, many math skills in fourth grade. The term for this is scaffolding, as we can't build higher math skills if we don't have a solid foundation in the basics. How can we divide or reduce fractions if we don't know how to multiply?

To practice our math facts, specifically times tables, we have been studying one group at a time, such as 4 times tables this week. After every group (a week or so), we take a large quiz (100 questions on all facts). I chart the student's progress and tell them how they improved.

Our usual routine is to use triangle flash cards or play a multiplication game, then take a 100 question quiz on that specific times table. Sometimes I will ask students to think of 2 to 3 facts to make sure they know, as it's easier to focus on a few then 100!

Ask your child about triangle flash cards. Students love to use them because they are more dynamic than traditional flash cards and they get to make them themselves.

Stay tuned for the next post about reading fluency!

Image courtesy of www.newmanagement.com

Weekly update- mid October

A reminder about a few things:

This Friday is our Fall Festival (4-7pm). This is always one of my favorite MFP events! I will be hosting a game along with some dedicated parent volunteers. Please stop by to say hi or even help out. In addition, we are in need of donations for our class gift basket. Our theme this year is "Car Wash" (car care). If you can donate any new products that go along with this them that would be great. Car soap, protectant, sprays, brushes, sponges and other things would be perfect. Anything will help though.

Please remember that next week we have half days for parent/teacher conferences. Please be on time for your conference, as there will be other parents waiting for the next conference. Also, if something comes up please let me know.

Thanks to all the parents who check their student's homework every night (although it is only required to sign them over the weekend). Please make sure you are also checking the work that comes home with your child. Most of our work comes home on Friday and includes graded tests and quizzes. You can double check these things online at www.engrade.com

Field Trip, library books and classroom update

We have several events coming up this week, including our field trip to see Sleepy Hollow. This is on Thursday, so please remember if you have preordered a lunch. If not, remember to bring your own from home. We are sorry that we are unable to accommodate parent chaperones, but space in the actual theater is very limited. In the future, we would love to have parents join us. Please see the Pendleton Press for additional events, such as Photo Day and fundraiser deadlines.

This week, we continued with adding and subtracting numbers, including rounding to certain place values first. One area where students usually have difficulty is in subtracting across zeros. For example, 1000-872. Students need to know when to borrow and which number become 9 and which have 10 added to them.

Some students are learning how to create ToonDoo educational cartoons, which yuo can view on our Creativity Blog. The students are still studying plant sin Mrs. Moore's science class. They need to make sure they study for these tests and take all of their homework seriously. Remember to view your child's grades online and discuss positives and negatives with him or her.

What story did we read in language arts this week? What story will we read this coming week? Ask your child; get engaged.

Lastly, Thursday will be our library day and all book sneed to come back that day. If a student wants to check a book out again it must be RE-checked.

Update for Sept 18, 2008

Happy Wednesday! From a teacher's perspective, these minimum days go by way too quickly. There are so many things to teach in fourth grade and truly so little time. Please review the daily activities with your child and check over their homework. Also, remember that grade are online, so hold the kids accountable. If they received a poor grade, why? What can they do better next time?

I am always being asked if there is anything we need in class and I have an idea. I have a pot for a plant, but no plant to go into it. Its a small pot, maybe one that could be filled with a little guy from the dollar store or something. Something hardy would be best. If you can donate a small plant that we can pot at school ( we have soil) that would be great. We only need one, so if you can do it, please just post a comment to this post so others will see and know it has been taken care of.

Our blogs are up and running. Many students have already written their own post for our Daily Blog and some are working on projects for our Creativity at Work blog. YOUR JOB: read them over and post a short comment at the bottom. This is very inspiring for the students. Please see this link to learn more about blog comments.

Update for Sept. 12, 2008

Many thanks to all the parents (and students) who visited for Back to School Night. Additional thanks to those parents who joined us on our Sept. 11 Freedom Walk.

If you missed the presentations, one of the newest additions is the availability of grades online. You can visit Engrade.com and enter your username and password to view the grades. Please note that the grades there may not be the exact grades your child will receive on his/her report card because there is an element of subjectivity, as well as other factors that play a part. Small slips of paper with individual access codes will be coming home. If a student loses this they will have to pay classroom money to receive another.

Please email me with any other questions, comments or concerns.